Gear shift lever and resilient mount therefor



AND RESILIENT MOUNT THEREFOR Nov. 30, 1937. H. D. GEYER GEAR SHIFT LEVER Filed May 2, 1935 7 \NVENTOR HarveyZIZEeyer Patented Nov. 30, 1937 GEAR SHIFT LEVER AND RESILIENT MOUNT THEREFOR Harvey D. Geyer, Dayton,

eral Motors Corporation,

poration of Delaware Ohio, assignor to Gen- Detroit, Mich., a cor- Application May 2, 1935, Serial No. 19,354

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a resilient universal ball and socket pivot support for a gear shift lever for automobiles.

An object of this invention is to provide means 5 for cushioning the ball of the gear shift lever in the socket in which it is mounted in order to eliminate or greatly reduce the vibrations which are ordinarily transmitted from the transmission to the gear shift lever.

Another object is to provide such a resilient socket support member which will be self-lubricating, long-lasting and eflicient in use, inexpensive to manufacture, install and replace, and which will greatly facilitate the operation of shifting gears in an automobile. The simplicity of the design of the rubber socket member and the ease of assembling the lever ball therein as well as of assembling the socket member within its support are important features of this in- 20 vention.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a vertical section through the entire assembly of an automobile gear shift lever and its support, made according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the metal insert which is molded in situ in the resilient rubber socket member.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The gear shift lever has an upper handle portion II], a lower actuating portion II which serves to actuate the shifting mechanism in the transmission (not shown), and an intermediate ball 12 which ordinarily is and is here shown as integral with the portions l and II.

A one-piece molded resilient rubber socket member i5 is provided which has a parti-spherical socket l6 which fits snugly upon the metal ball l2 and serves as a universal support therefor. Preferably the rubber member I5 is molded with a metal annulus ll vulcanized thereto and partially imbedded therein as an insert. Annulus I1 is located near the central portion of and surrounds the socket l6 and thus serves to reinforce the resilient rubber all around the ball l2 in such manner as to limit the lateral compression of the rubber socket when the ball I2 is forced laterally thereagainst when the gear shift lever is operated. However the central hole in annulus I1 is made sufliciently large to permit ball l2 to be pressed through one open end of the rubber socket member [5 sembled together. member l5 upon the the rubber member l5 and hanging portions the socket member.

gear shift lever from turning on the socket support. In the done by the metal rubber member the rubber, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The metal insert ring and serves as a lug below.

After socket member [5 is gear shift lever as bled unit is set snugly down recess 3!, the lower e 32 thereof resting top of the housing 25 fits into the recess end of the gear shift lever upon the external threads clamping the rubber in place. Note that when these parts are first as- 5 This assembling of socket ball I2 is done simply by threading one end of the gear shift lever through then forcing the ball 12 into the socket l6 by stretching the over- 10 18 of the resilient rubber. This method is simple and easy and permits the socket member IE to be molded in one piece due to the flexibility of the upper overhanging lip l8 of 15 Preferably means are provided to prevent the itsown axis in form shown, this is pin 20 projecting from ball 12 and extending radially outward from its cen- 20 ter into a small vertical slot 2| molded in the 15. Preferably the metal insert I1 is provided with two depending lugs 22 each having a small vertical flange 23 which lie flush with the opposite vertical sides of slot 2|. Thus 25 the projecting end of pin 20 will ride against the vertical metal flanges 23 rather than against II also has a depending lug 25 which projects radially out beyond the main cylindrical outer wall of socket member ill to positively prevent rotation of the socket member l5 within its stationary housing 30 into which it is clamped as described assembled upon the above described, this asseminto the cylindrical dge of the conical portion upon the metal shoulder 33. 4 Also the radial rubber flange 34 rests upon the 30, while the radial projection 36 provided therefor. The housing cap 40 is then slipped over the upper and screwed down 4| on housing 30, thus socket member l5 firmly the metal cap 40 exerts its .main clamping pressure against the exposed top of the radially projecting metal insert ring l1 rather than against the resilient rubber. rubber lip flange 42 on cap 40 when it the overhanging lip iii of However this overhanging I8 is snugly backed up by the metal is in its final position and thus the ball I2 is resiliently maintained 5! against upward withdrawal from the rubber socket member l5. It will now be clear that the ball I2 is completely supported by resilient rubber and is permitted a universal movement to the desired degree, but nevertheless is prevented from turning on its own vertical axis.

The rubber used for molding socket member I5 is preferably compounded portion of duprene (which is an oil-resistant synthetic rubber) and the desired proportion of fine ly divided graphite. This provides for self-lubrication of the ball and socket joint for a long period of use without any attention from the user. Of course if there is little possibility of oil coming into contact with the rubber member 15 the duprene may be omitted therefrom. The rubber I5 is vulcanized to such a degree of semisoftness that it will properly retain the ball 12 against being pushed down and out of the rubber socket l6 by any down force ordinarily exerted on the hand lever ID. The conical recess 45 permits the desired angular movements in any direction of the lower portion ll of the gear shift lever.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In combination, an actuating lever having an intermediate ball thereon and a handle portion and actuating portion projecting from opposite sides of said ball, an annular resilient rubber bushing supporting said lever, said resilient bushing having two opposed open ends thru which said handle portion and actuating portion respectively project and a spherical socket sliding bearing for said ball, said socket enclosing said ball to such extent as to resiliently retain said ball against endwise movement of said lever with a suitable protially limit the lateral in either longitudinal direction, the rubber material of said resilient support being sufliciently said ball to be initially forced endwise into place within said socket while said support is detached from other parts, a reinforcing metal annulus surrounding the central portion of said socket and serving to substanmovement of said ball in said rubber socket, and a rigid retaining member for said resilient support.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which metal annulus is embedded in the resilient rubber and surrounding the central portion of said spherical socket in such manner as to materially limit the lateral deflection of said ball within said socket without materially limiting the expandability of the, rubber support to permit the initial forcing of the ball into its socket.

3. In combination, an actuating lever having a ball thereon, an annular resilient rubber cushioning support for said lever, said resilient rubber support having a spherical rubber socket bearing for resiliently retaining said ball in position therein, and a substantially fiat metal ring embedded in the rubber and surrounding the central portion of said socket and normally spaced from said ball within said 'socket by a relatively narrow distance whereby to substantially limit the lateral deflection of said ball.

4. In combination, an actuating lever having a ball thereon, an annular resilient rubber cushioning support for said lever, said resilient rubber support having a spherical rubber socket bearing for resiliently retaining said ball in position therein, said ball having a substantially central projection thereon riding within a slot provided therefor in said resilient rubber support, and a metal member embedded in the rubber support and having portions reinforcing the sides of said slot against which said projection bears.

HARVEY D. GEYER. 

